I'm not buyin it Glasseye. You're damn proud of that bus, and the hard work you put into reviving its life again. Your proud mug on yer avatar says it all.
Please. Note the
two shit-eating grins in that avatar. Without satchmo's help, that bus might still rest on timbers, not Hankooks.
A second friend helped me pull the engine in the first place, something I was hesitating to tackle alone. So. Proud, yes. I learned a lot. Even better, I can share the pride with others, and that's a Volkswagen lesson I won't soon forget.
Hey once you get a VW dialed in, other than routine maitenance they're remarkably reliable. I've thrown some crazy trips at my bus and it hasn't let me down yet.
No argument. Colin is testament to that, too - and Elwood and zillions of others who have crossed several continents in buses. No argument that it can be totally reliable. And field repairable, maybe even by me. But it still fails several critical needs.
Security is one. I need secure storage for expensive tools.
Inconspicuousness is another. I need to disappear, not be waved at.
And
serious all-weather capability. Bad weather makes good pictures, so that's your destination. Actually, you need to be on location just when the bad weather's getting better. At Steptoe Butte, the weather was horrible, but rapidly improving.
While the bus has undeniable charm and certainly photographs better than a Sprinter, it doesn't meet my current, narrow view of life. A half a week ago, however, in Oregon I was singing a different tune.
P.S. real enlightenment is smiling at whatever life throws at you...adversity or struggle are all equal, only filtered by the perceiver.
Now that sounds like good advice. I'll keep that in mind.
I'll work on my grins more especially next time I skin my knuckles with a crescent wrench.